Projects, Not Complaining

I was driving to Truro the other day and thought I would listen to a CD on the way. So I listened to Jack Canfield's Success Principles.

Jack's first rules had to do with taking responsibility for yourself and not complaining. This got me to thinking about project management (of course...) and how those who initiate projects do so with an "opposite of complaining" mindset. That is, instead of going on complaining about something, they take a "let's get it solved" attitude and turn it into a project.

If you are a project initiator, congratulations on your proactivity.

Mindfulness and Project Management

I was reading a book on mindfulness the other day. The author, who was also a manager, found she was always thinking of planning her next project when she wanted to be focusing on what she was doing. So she came up with a workable solution: she set aside time for planning. When she wasn't in this planning time, she would focus on what she was doing. When she was in the planning time, she focused on planning. Seems to me a good way to be efficient.

In thinking about mindfulness and project management, I did some internet searching and found this article, which I hope you like: Be a Mindful Project Manager by Kiron Bondale.

Too Busy?

I work on a few volunteer committees. This week, one of my committee colleagues called to prompt me to answer an email I had overlooked. Feeling bad about not having replied, I heard myself say, "I was very busy this week..." As I was saying it, I was thinking, "Oh, oh."

I know 'too busy' to me means it wasn’t as high on my priority list as other things which I did do on time. Or maybe I didn’t have time to think about the answer, so I left it.

My biggest and best time management tool is my Harvard Planner. Someone recently said to me, "It's unusual to see someone still using a paper-based system." But it works for me. My planner tracks all of my to-do's and lets me see them all at once. I put the activities in their place and check them off as I go. (It's not infallible, though, since I still missed that email response. Having the right tool only works if you use it properly!)

Decisions

At my home, we often share dreams we had the night before. This morning my son Zachary told me the he had dreamed about Poppy (my father) who passed away two years ago. In the dream, Dad told Zachary that I should say "No" to a decision.

This got me thinking about how many decisions I make in a day - which turns out be be a lot. So, I wondered which decision that might apply to.

Related to decisions, I saw this post on LinkedIn today about decisions, and you could say Expert Judgment. In the Guide to the Project Management Body of Knowledge (PMBOK), Expert Judgment is often a tool used for making decisions.

How do we know who is an expert? It's generally someone who has done the work before. And how do you become an expert...?

Choices

When it's a nice day and I am around, I walk with my 9-year old son, Zachary, the 25 minutes to his school. Yesterday we walked. It was a bit windy and, within a few minutes of leaving the house, Zachary said he was cold. I said for him to walk behind me so I could shelter him from the wind.

About two minutes later Zachary said his foot hurt. I said, "It will go away in a minute." We got to chatting and he seemed happy enough.

About ten minutes later we took our usual path, up the hill through the woods and over the guard rail, when Zachary bumped his leg and arm on the rail. He was a bit upset. Again, I told him it would go away in a minute. He cheered up after 30 seconds.

We crossed the street and Zachary said, "We all make our own choices." Then he went on to show me how he could choose to jump on one foot, run on the grass, or run zig-zagged.

I was thinking for the rest of the day, off and on, about Zachary's statement.

Yes, we make our own choices every minute. And how we look at life every minute is certainly a major choice. Thanks Zachary.

The Value of Not Working So Much

I saw this post on LinkedIn, and thought it was intriguing: Why Germans Work Fewer Hours but Produce More: A Study in Culture. After all, who doesn't want to work fewer hours yet produce more?

Then another article caught my eye: How the Supposedly Lazy French are More Productive Than Germans.

This article stated “According to OECD data from 2011, French worker productivity stands at $57.7 worth of output per hour, while German’s is $55.8 and the United Kingdom’s is $47.2.”

What I got from both articles is that these cultures work when they work, and keep their working time to reasonable limits.

Good advice for all of us, I think.

Get Control of Your Projects

Project management is about getting things done, and it’s not just for large organizations. We all want to find ways to reach our goals more quickly and efficiently.

When thinking of our work, we can think of it as a list of items we want to achieve - this can be the basis for our projects. For example, running a marketing campaign or organizing the accounts better. List each item and note when you want it done.

It might be a long list. That's okay. The next step is to prioritize your list. Rather than diving into what can be done quickly (although that has value), take a step back and determine which item will give you the most return.

Although some items might seem urgent, are they important? Here are some questions you can use for prioritizing your work:

    * Which projects will help the me or the organization grow? If we are a small business owner, they might be the same thing. (For example, what can we do to expand our skills or move into new markets - think longer term.)
    * Which projects must I do to meet regulatory or legal requirements? (Can't ignore these but you can figure out when they really need to be done. Also, do you need to do them or can you delegate much of the work?)
    * Which projects can be done quickly? (Don't rush into these - there can be satisfaction from clearing them off your plate but sometimes doing the small items can mean we never make room for things that take more thought.)
    * Which projects can I delegate? (For example, by using services from a colleague in bookkeeping or marketing.) This one is sometimes hardest to do, especially for small business owners, in terms of control and knowing it is worth paying others for doing what they are skilled in so we can focus on our own strengths and services.

You are using "project selection criteria" and "project ranking" here.

For me, breaking down the work and prioritizing means peace of mind - and isn't that the reason for a control system?

Kindness on the Road

Recently my husband, Dan, and son, Zachary, went to a Scout Camp in Terra Nova Park, Newfoundland. Dan drove up with our older Honda. After the Scout Camp, they decided to do some camping on their own.

Well, the car had a problem. As Dan was driving along the highway, about an hour and a half from St. John's, it started to die. Soon enough the car decided to stop working altogether and he pulled over to the side of the highway.

It was raining. When the rain stopped, Dan and Zachary started hiking to the nearest store or garage. Dan had thought it was about a kilometer away. Luckily, a fellow in a truck stopped and picked them up. The nearest garage was ten kilometers away.

Dan called me from the garage and said he would be getting a taxi to the next town, which was Whitbourne. I called my brother in St. John's, asking if he could pick them up in Whitbourne after work. He said they would go out right away.

Later I learned Dan didn't get a taxi to Whitbourne - the garage owner's wife drove them. And the fellow who picked them up on the highway had actually seen them as he passed by, realized they might need help, and circled back at the next exit to pick them up.

No moral here - just wanted to share my first of several stories of the kindness of Newfoundlanders.

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